Smith v. Computer Task Group, Inc.
| Decision Date | 22 July 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 1:06cv00907. |
| Citation | 568 F.Supp.2d 603 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina |
| Parties | Marcus A. SMITH, Plaintiff, v. COMPUTER TASK GROUP, INC., Defendant. |
Angela Newell Gray, Gray Newell, LLP, Greensboro, NC, for Plaintiff.
David C. Lindsay, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, Raleigh, NC, for Defendant.
This diversity matter is before the court on Defendant Computer Task Group, Inc.'s ("CTG"), Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 27) and Motion to Strike (Doc. 37), pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the reasons set forth below, the court will deny the Motion to Strike but disregard the challenged evidence and grant the Motion for Summary Judgment.
Plaintiff Marcus Smith ("Smith"), a North Carolina resident, filed this action against CTG, a New York corporation, in the Superior Court of Durham County, North Carolina, on September 11, 2006. (Doc. 4.) Smith alleges wrongful termination in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress under North Carolina law. (Id. at 4.)
CTG timely removed this action to this court on the grounds of diversity jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (2006).1 (Doc. 2.) Following the completion of discovery, CTG moved for summary judgment. (Doc. 27.) Smith's response to the motion relies in part on the North Carolina Employment Security Commission's decision granting him benefits following his termination ("ESC Decision"). (Doc. 31 at 12-14.) CTG moves to strike the ESC Decision and any related argument on the grounds they are barred by North Carolina law. (Doc. 37.)
For purposes of the motion for summary judgment, the court views the following evidence in the light most favorable to Smith. Shaw v. Stroud, 13 F.3d 791, 798 (4th Cir.1994).
CTG recruits persons, who are hired by third parties in need of specific skill sets. One of CTG's clients is International Business Machines Corp. ("IBM"), with whom CTG has an exclusive agreement to place contract employees. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 62; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 25.) Pursuant to this agreement, IBM issues, and CTG enters into, a separate "purchase order" to staff each IBM position. (Doc. 33 Powers Dep. at 23-24.) Each purchase order is one year in duration and may be renewed by IBM. (Id. Powers Dep. at 25-27, 32.) IBM has the authority to interview, select and/or reject proposed candidates, dictate their work schedules, and even terminate the purchase order, and thus the employee, for any reason. (Id. Powers Dep. at 25-27, 29-32, West Dep. at 16; Tr. of Oral Argument at 3.)
When a client terminates a purchase order, CTG considers three alternatives: (1) transfer the employee to another open position; (2) layoff the employee until CTG has a suitable position; or (3) terminate the employee for cause. (Doe. 28 Ex. C ¶ 7; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 174-75, 186, Powers Dep. at 24-25, 28-29.) Employment with CTG ends upon termination of the purchase order, unless CTG has another position "ready and waiting." (Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 175.) A termination for cause precludes a person from future employment with CTG and is exercised only in extenuating circumstances. (Id. Borden Dep. at 185-86; Powers Dep. at 24-25.) CTG retains the sole authority to reprimand its employees or terminate them from CTG. (Id. Powers Dep. at 30-31.)
Smith was an at-will employee of CTG from July 2005 until his termination on March 16, 2006. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 30, Ex. C ¶¶ 5, 9, Ex. E ¶ 6, Ex. H at 58; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 212; Doc. 59 Ex. A at 46.) CTG placed Smith as a technician on IBM's campus in the Research Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina, pursuant to a purchase order.2 (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 30, 109, Ex. C ¶ 5.) During his tenure, IBM made no complaint regarding his technical skills (Doc. 33 Powers Dep. at 17-18, 49, Borden Dep. at 38, 39-40, 68, 82-83, 97-98, 216, West Dep. at 18-20, 41-44; see Doc. 28 Ex. A at 80; Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 14) and was rated as "outstanding" by an IBM team leader (Doc. 33 West Dep. at 20). Apart from his substantive performance, Smith did have a volatile personality conflict with an IBM program manager named Michael Parris ("Parris") (, yet IBM renewed the purchase order for his services in January 2006 (Doc. 33 Powers Dep. at 32, Borden Dep. at 183).
On December 21, 2005, Smith injured his knee while moving a piece of computer equipment at IBM's campus. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 99-103; Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 6; Doc. 33 West Dep. at 54.) He immediately mentioned the injury to his IBM team leader (Doc. 33 West Dep. at 55-56) but did not report it to CTG until a meeting with his CTG site manager, Julie Powers ("Powers"), on January 3, 2006 (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 68-69, 101-02). Powers not only encouraged but, according to Smith, insisted that he file a workers' compensation claim. (Tr. of Oral Argument at 40; Doc. 28 Ex. A at 68-69; see Doc. 28 at 12-13; Doc. 36 at 4.) CTG also assisted him in submitting the required paperwork. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 69; Doc. 33 Powers Dep. at 36-37.) On January 5, 2006, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc., CTG's third-party administrator for workers' compensation claims, filed the appropriate paperwork with the North Carolina Industrial Commission (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 101-03, Ex. E ¶ 5) and subsequently approved Smith's treatment plans and started paying covered expenses. (Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 6.)
After Smith filed his workers' compensation claim, IBM and CTG allowed him to take time off for doctor's appointments and physical therapy sessions. (Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 50.) Ostensibly to accommodate his injury and remove him from a workspace where further lifting was required,3 two IBM managers, Parris and Edward Ramirez ("Ramirez"), assigned Smith to Building 205 to work on "knowledge transfer" with another IBM team member located there and provided him a handicapped parking space. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 92, 112, 116, 125, Ex. 20, Ex. F ¶ 6, Ex. H at 15-17; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 47, 53-55, 59, 60, 65-66; Doc. 34 Parris Dep. at 110-11, 112-13, 118-19.) IBM also requested that Smith no longer work from home. (Doc. 34 Parris Dep. at 110; see Doc. 28 Ex. A at 112.)
Smith complained that he wanted to return to Building 002 for medical reasons. He asserted that Building 205 was a longer walk from the parking lot (although IBM provided him a handicapped space) and was farther away from a cafeteria, which he claimed he required in order to have access to food and drink when he took his medication. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 115, 122; Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 8; see Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 51, 59-60.) CTG and IBM required him to provide a doctor's note describing his additional claimed physical limitations and advised him to bring snacks to work to eat with his medication, when necessary. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 116-17, 122, Ex. F ¶ 8; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 51, 52, 60, 170.)
In January 2006, Dawn Borden ("Borden") replaced Powers as Smith's CTG site manager. (Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 5.) Smith claims that Borden initially failed to respond to his requests for a meeting to discuss his physical limitations. (Id. Ex. A ¶ 7.) He also says that Borden failed to persuade IBM to return him to Building 002, absent a doctor's note. (Doc. 28 Ex. A at 115-17, 122; see Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 52, 60, 169-71.) When Smith provided such notes to IBM and Borden, IBM found them to be inadequate to justify his return to Building 002, and Borden allegedly rejected three or four notes as insufficient to overcome IBM's concerns. (Doc. 28 Ex. A 116-17; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 52, 60, 170.)
The record also reflects that Smith's relationship with Parris was deteriorating, to the point that Smith was openly questioning Parris' judgment in e-mails to Ramirez. Relations reached the point where Smith needed a "mediator" or "go-between" to interact successfully with Parris. (Id. Ex. A at 79-80, 125-26.) During this general time frame, Smith asked Powers and Borden to investigate the possibility of redeploying him to another job, but nothing suitable was available. (Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 152, 176, Powers Dep. at 32, 54.)
On February 20, 2006, Smith met with Borden to complain about "all the problems [he] had had with Parris and [Parris's] overall attitude regarding [his] injury" and informed her that his doctor recommended surgery on his injured knee. (Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 9; see Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 129-33.) Smith reports that " (Doc. 31 Ex. A ¶ 9.) Smith further claims that "Borden immediately showed dissatisfaction with my physical limitations and an unwillingness to accommodate me." (Id.)
By at least February 2006, IBM had begun to raise concerns with CTG about Smith. (Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 50-51.) On March 7, Borden reiterated to Smith that he needed to abide by IBM's request to work in Building 205. (Doc. 28 Ex. H at Ex. 23; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 50-52.) Borden contends that Smith agreed to do so (Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 139-40, 170; see Doc. 28 Ex. H at Ex. 23), yet he continued to work from Building 002 or from home (.
Things soon came to a head. On Friday, March 10, Ramirez called Borden because he could not locate Smith. (Doc. 28 Ex. F ¶ 9; Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 71-74.) Borden determined that, despite IBM's directives, Smith was working from home. (Doc. 33 Borden Dep. at 74.) Assuring Borden...
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